Chapter 491: Ancestral Hall

If you want to kill a tree, you don't actually need to swing a big axe and hack at it furiously — you just need to strip a ring of bark from the main trunk. Cut off the nutrient transport channels, and the crown will quickly wither and die.

This method works especially well for cash crops like lychee, because the Transmigrators don't need to cut the trees down for firewood. So that very night, the fruit trees in Lychee Garden outside Chenshi Village were given the same treatment, and the lychees that were about to ripen would now never mature.

Next came the fish ponds. This was even simpler — you only needed to suddenly change the pH of the pond water to kill the fish. On this point, Master Xiong of Jiangnan had extensive experience. At that time, under his direction, the research group tested the tolerance relationships between various common chemicals and pond fish, achieving rich scientific results.

And so bag after bag of white powder was scattered into the surrounding fish ponds. In addition, the mulberry trees encircling the fish ponds did not escape calamity either — every single one had its bark stripped off.

Finally, the rice paddies.

For the rice paddies there was no other way; they could only choose the most labor-intensive method — roll up their trouser legs, take long-handled sickles, and wade in to slash wildly. Fortunately, destruction is always easier than construction. A row of men wielding long swords, slashing left and right while trampling as they went, got the job done without even needing to bend over. The efficiency was very high.

At the break of dawn, when the early-rising farmers of Chenshi Village shouldered their hoes and left the village, they discovered that all the fish in the ponds had turned belly-up, the rice in the paddies that was just heading out seemed to have been helpfully cut down by some kind souls, and the surrounding trees had also undergone a beauty exfoliation treatment, revealing a tender white ring behind the bark.

With a "thud," a farmer sat down on the ground and collapsed.

Chenshi Village, the Chen Family Ancestral Hall.

The venerable Chen Family Ancestral Hall had only been renovated the year before last. Its beams and pillars, brushed with several coats of heavy lacquer, stood there with an air of steady composure. Together with the long wooden couplets flanking the door and the signboard overhead, an aura of solemn authority radiated from every corner.

In the Ancestral Hall today, nearly all the male members of the Chen Family were present.

Inside the main hall, where the spirit tablets of successive ancestors were enshrined, sat the spokesmen of each branch. Behind them stood their own sons and nephews, while outside the door was a dense crowd of ordinary clansmen, stretching all the way to the courtyard wall.

The one sitting in the foremost seat of honor was, naturally, the Chen Clan Leader.

The Clan Leader was named Chen Shiai. He had a sharp face, thin eyebrows, and a graying beard. In his fifties, he wore a scholar's cap and a certified student's robe, dressed in a refined, literary manner.

Chen Shiai was an old certified student from the Wanli Era, the Eldest Son of the Main Branch, and had been the Chen Clan Leader for many years, commanding considerable prestige among the clansmen.

At this moment, Chen Shiai's face was full of rage as he pounded heavily on the armrest of his chair: "Wretched scoundrels, truly lawless beyond belief! That bastard Cao is trying to rebel, is he? Rebellion! Rebellion! This soldier ruffian is definitely rebelling!"

With the old Clan Leader's furious roar, the hall immediately erupted in a buzz of discussion. The majority of the clansmen were similarly enraged, all cursing that bastard Cao to die a miserable death and father sons without anuses.

"Enough, stop playing the Great King behind closed doors. The rice has already been cut, and you're still going on about this? Curse all you want — will it make a single hair fall off that bastard Cao?"

The one who spoke these words was a heavyset middle-aged man wearing a satin robe, with a jade ring on his finger. This man was named Chen Shicai, the spokesman of the Third Branch, ranked fifteenth in the 'Shi' generation.

Chen Shicai's face was full of disdain, and for good reason. Because their Third Branch had focused its efforts for many years on commerce and trade, they were somewhat at odds with the other branches that relied mainly on farming, and there was considerable friction between them.

Sitting here today, seeing these clansmen who were like frogs at the bottom of a well, clinging stubbornly to outdated ways, he had originally resolved to remain silent, but in the end he couldn't help but retort with a sarcastic jab.

With Chen Shicai's mocking words, the hall fell silent.

Clan Leader Chen Shiai was now displeased. He rolled his eyes at Chen Shicai and said in a sinister tone: "Old Fifteen, make yourself clear. What do you mean 'playing the Great King behind closed doors'?! Aren't we all just discussing countermeasures right now?"

"Countermeasures? Hah, what a joke. Sitting in the main hall cursing the street — that counts as countermeasures?" Chen Shicai now had a helpless look on his face. He turned to the crowd and said: "The fish are dead, the rice is ruined. What countermeasure can bring the fish back to life? Weren't the people of Toushan Village and Weishan Village handled the same way before? In the end, what countermeasures did those people have? They just lay down and took the beating!"

"Absurd!" Chen Shiai grew even more dissatisfied upon hearing this. After shooting a glare at Old Fifteen, he rose from his chair and declared loudly: "Our Chen clan has been rooted here for centuries since migrating south at the end of the Song Dynasty. We have weathered countless disasters, both natural and man-made. When have we ever feared anyone? Hmph, as long as the village stands united, there is no obstacle we cannot overcome!"

After delivering this motivational speech, Chen Shiai thought for a moment and then said to Chen Shicai: "Old Fifteen, don't you go fanning the flames here. I know you have dealings with that Cao Bandit."

Pointing at the spirit tablets behind him, Chen Shiai continued: "Today, here in the Chen Family Ancestral Hall, before the faces of our ancestors, don't you even think about doing anything that betrays your conscience. You must know that everyone sitting here is your own flesh and blood. Heaven watches what man does. Even if clan law cannot punish you now, our ancestors will not forgive you in the future!"

"The same old clichés again." After hearing this speech, laced with veiled barbs and threats, Chen Shicai did not become angry. Instead, he revealed an "I knew it" expression and let out a few cold sneers.

Then, Chen Shicai shook his head with a helpless look and finally said slowly: "Dealings — everyone has been dealing with that bastard Cao. Didn't that so-called 'Demolition and Relocation Office' from New City send their clerical staff and advisers into every single household? Doesn't every household have a copy of the land requisition charter they handed out? Look, it's in black and white. I, Chen Shicai, also have a copy, and it doesn't have one copper coin more than anyone else's! Chen Shiai, don't you go slinging mud at my Third Branch. Here, take a look at my Third Branch's charter — does it have even one extra copper coin?"

Saying this, Chen Shicai pulled out three sheets of white A4 paper stapled together from his bosom and slapped them onto the tea table with a "smack."

"It's this very charter. Every clan household has a copy! Chen Shiai, don't keep invoking the ancestors. Let me ask you, for the past half year, this charter has been in every family's hands. As Clan Leader, aside from sitting back and waiting to die, have you offered even the slightest response?"

Hearing this, Chen Shiai opened his mouth to retort, but his tone involuntarily weakened: "The matter is of great importance. One must always see how other families respond first, so as to seek advantages and avoid harm, no?"

"Seek advantages and avoid harm? Hah! The rice has been destroyed. What advantage is being sought here? This is clearly inviting the wolf into the house!"

Seeing Chen Shiai momentarily choked with anger and unable to speak, Chen Shicai took two steps into the center of the hall, shook out his sleeves, and finally said with a cold laugh: "You can't resist, yet you refuse to sell the land. Isn't that just sitting and waiting for death? Well, things have come to this. I can see you lot can't drag this out any longer. Today I'll make it clear: the Third Branch is going to sign that charter soon. Those of you unwilling to sign, do as you please."

With that, Chen Shicai waved his hand and strode out of the Ancestral Hall. Following behind him were the members of the Third Branch.

After Chen Shicai left, a new round of hushed whispers began in the slightly awkward hall. Not long after, an old man with completely white hair and beard spoke up: "Shiai, looking at the situation, that General-in-Chief Cao has probably become red-eyed with determination, resolved to get what he wants. He has troops under his command. Judging from the past half year, it seems we can't count on the government officials."

"Other villages also tried to resist stubbornly, and we all know how they ended up. Lessons from the past — we cannot follow in their footsteps."

"As things stand now, the arm can't twist the thigh. We might as well just sign that document. Otherwise, the mulberries and rice have already been destroyed. Never mind the children having no food to eat — the autumn taxes coming up soon will be the gate of hell. What will we use to pay them?"

Hearing this highly respected Clan Elder speak, Chen Shiai did not use grand principles to retort this time. Instead, his face full of bitterness, he said: "Fourth Uncle, it's not that Shiai is stubborn. But if we sign that document, the Chen Family will truly face a great calamity!"

At this point, Chen Shiai's eyes reddened: "Once we leave our fields and homes, our clansmen will scatter to the four winds to labor for that bastard Cao. Who will run the clan school in the future? Who will offer incense to the ancestors? The moment that pen falls, the Chen Family will be completely finished."

It must be said that the old certified student Chen Shiai's vision was quite sharp. His words clearly pointed out the hidden lethal blow that demolition and land requisition dealt to the clan: once the land that the clan relied on to exploit and bind the farmers was stripped away, the traditional clan structure would instantly vanish like smoke.

For a Clan Leader like Chen Shiai, demolition was tantamount to a Dimensionality Reduction Strike — he could no longer use means like "public property," "sacrificial fields," or "clan schools" to exploit his clansmen, nor could he use grand principles and Family Law in the Ancestral Hall to discipline them, because the clansmen would all have gone to collective dormitories in far-flung places, and no one would listen to his old ways anymore.

This was the most fundamental reason why Chen Shiai, facing the Demolition and Relocation Office, would rather die than submit. He saw through everything and knew that once he yielded, he would lose the most precious thing: power.

However, seeing through it was one thing; the matter ultimately had to be resolved. The dead fish in the ponds and the green seedlings in the paddies lay there plain as day. Grand principles alone could not solve practical problems.

So Chen Shiai turned his head and said to an old man sitting beside him who had remained silent all along: "Shiqi, say a few words."

Chen Shiqi, a provincial graduate from the Wanli Era, had served two terms as Prefect and one term as Circuit Intendant. Now retired in his hometown, he was the greatest pillar of support for the Chen clansmen.

Chen Shiqi, with a lean and hale countenance, dressed in a black straight-hemmed robe and sporting a three-strand long beard, slightly shook his head upon hearing this and frowned: "The court is now in a time of troubles. That Cao fellow is a sea bandit who came in through Recruitment and Amnesty. His troops are strong and his horses sturdy. Recently, he even went to Beijing for the King's Rescue. Therefore, the Three Provincial Offices of Guangdong have to give him some leeway and can only tolerate this madman's rampage for a while."

"We can't just sit here waiting to die, can we?"

Chen Shiai stared intently at his only hope, not even blinking.

"By my reckoning, the letter from Beijing should arrive within these few days. If by then we can submit an impeachment memorial against that Cao Chuan in the imperial court, it might have some effect."

"Then what should we do right now?"

"Stall." Chen Shiqi said decisively: "Make some moves, but don't go too far. We'll discuss further after I've read the letter."

"In that case..." Chen Shiai paced a few steps in the hall with his hands behind his back: "Tomorrow I will go to the County Yamen and beat the drum to cry out my grievance. That County Magistrate Sun is usually on good terms with me and should be able to cause some trouble for that 'Demolition and Relocation Office'."

"Good." Chen Shiqi nodded: "With documents going back and forth, we can stall for a few more days."